cheap dress weapons?

[mrcunningham]

Well, now I'm in the queen's guard. And now I officially need a dress weapon but, to be frank, I'm really not into having real swords or their ilk, and so I can't honestly be bothered to pay lots of cash for one.

But I also don't want to look like a mook. So does anyone know a good source for cheap - but not hideous - dress weapons, especially pole weapons? (A yari or naginata would be tres cool, and a nagamaki would be divine.)

Thanks in advance. I don't want to buy a bargain basement "samurai sword," but I will if I have to.

[smriggin]

I actually got my katana off ebay. The name of the seller is "razorsharpkatana"

Its as good as you're going to find on ebay, full tang, and they generally run around 50-60 bucks or so. I've been very happy with the one I purchased for dress. The only thing I'd comment on is that the scabbard doesn't fit tightly around the blade. And while it doesn't rattle around much at all, the blade tends to want to slide out if you bend over. I've fixed the problem by peace-knotting the blade to the scabbard - and its much more kosher in public places for it.

Most of the cheap naginatas I've seen are just that, cheap and crappy. A nagamaki? I've been looking for one under $400 - and can't find one anywhere. They're just not popular enough to be seen inexpensively. I too will take any information if one is available anywhere.

As for yari, I've seen them around cheaper, but I don't know the quality first-hand, to be honest.

Hope this helps!
Shawn

[Otagiri Tatsuzou]

mrcunningham said:

Thanks in advance. I don't want to buy a bargain basement "samurai sword," but I will if I have to.

Paul Chen blades are possibly the best value katana out there.

For a similar price, you can pick up a decent iaito which will have a solid construction but a soft, zinc blade.

There are some Chinese tachi available on ebay that I think are okay looking, but these are not solidly built swords.